The first trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has been released, which means we’ve officially gotten our first look at Phase 5 of the MCU. The trailer raises a lot of interesting questions. Who does Bill Murray play? Why is everything so Star Wars-like? Why does Hope Van Dyne always have the worst hair in Marvel?
The trailer may not reveal much about the actual plot of the third Ant-Man movie, but there are some juicy nuggets and plenty of Kang the Conqueror footage to dig into. Here’s what we learned from the trailer.
Phase 5 of the MCU begins
This may be the first Phase 5 movie, but it looks like Quantumania begins in a similar location to most of the Phase 4 movies.. Scott Lang basks in the glow of having saved the universe from Thanos and looks to a brighter future. No one may seem to understand the difference between Ant-Man and Spider-Man, but it’s still a vast improvement over his days as a convicted felon and Baskin-Robbins wage slave.
But it doesn’t take long before things get crazy for Scott and the rest of the Ant-Man family. We learn that his daughter Cassie (now played by Kathryn Newton) is a budding genius who has been busy trying to contact the denizens of the Quantum Realm. Only Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne, who has just spent the last few decades trapped in the Quantum Realm, seems to understand how bad this idea is.
Based on these images, it appears that most of the movie takes place inside the Quantum Realm, as our five heroes are sucked into Cassie’s satellite device and drawn into a conflict with Kang the Conqueror. In the end, Cassie will dress for the first time as Height.
Before getting into Kang’s role in the story, it’s worth taking a step back to appreciate el uso de “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” de Elton John as the soundtrack of the trailer. The song is essentially the story of someone trying to leave the world of fame and fortune behind in favor of going back to the farm and going back to their roots. That probably describes Scott’s mindset in the sequel.
This also makes Quantumania the latest in a long line of MCU projects (such as Scarlet Witch and Vision, Loki and Werewolf) that reference The Wizard of Oz. We doubt it’s just a coincidence. The deeper Marvel digs into the Multiverse Saga, the more it becomes clear that our heroes are leaving Kansas and entering a more fantastical world.
Inside the Quantum Realm
The trailer is pretty vague as to what actually happens to Scott and the gang after they’re pulled into the Quantum Realm. There are plenty of fantastical visuals and strange creatures, confirming that Quantumania is going to explore the make-up of the Quantum Realm in much more depth than its predecessors. With all the shots of weird landscapes, spaceships and seedy bars, Quantumania almost feels more like a Star Wars movie than a traditional MCU movie. More like Star Wars than the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, even.
Quantumania may be the closest we’ll ever get to seeing Marvel’s Micronauts comics adapted into action. Those comics featured freedom fighters battling an armored dictator named Baron Karza within the Microverse. Unfortunately, Marvel no longer owns the rights to most of these characters.but it is possible that Quantumania is inspired by Micronauts and its plot, heavily influenced by Star Wars.
One of the great mysteries of this trailer is what exactly is Janet afraid of. The obvious implication is that she’s terrified of attracting the attention of Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, but we’re not so sure. As we learned in Loki, most of the versions of Kang had been wiped out of existence thanks to the One Who Remains, who had been using the Time Variation Authority to preserve a single “Sacred Timeline” and prevent their selves. alternatives will threaten the multiverse.
In theory, that means that Kang did not exist within the Quantum Realm when Janet was trapped there. But maybe now that the multiverse is back, it’s like Kang has always been there. Time travel is complicated.
Instead, could be the mysterious character of Bill Murray who has Janet scared. Murray only appears in a single, silent shot in this trailer, but Marvel revealed more of the character in an exclusive Comic-Con trailer. That trailer confirms that Janet has a prior history with Murray’s character. One popular theory is that Murray is playing Janet’s ex-boyfriend, a relic of a time when she feared she’d never be able to escape the Quantum Realm and began to make a new life for herself.
Another possibility is that Janet is afraid to meet MODOK. That big-brained villain doesn’t appear in the trailer (as far as we know), but he does appear briefly in the Comic-Con version. Whatever conflict awaits our heroes in the Quantum Realm, MODOK is sure to have something to do with it.
Meet Kang the Conqueror
The one that remains is dead, which means that the multiverse has been restored and the other versions of Kang are back on the table. One of those versions seems to be the main villain of Quantumania.. This Kang is proudly decked out in his traditional costume from the comics, blue mask and all.
Although we expect Kang to be the main villain of this sequel, it’s interesting that the trailer doesn’t really paint him as the bad guy. If anything, this footage goes out of its way to portray Kang as the only person in the MCU who truly respects Scott Lang and doesn’t mistake Ant-Man for Spider-Man.
Still, we have no doubt that Kang only looks out for himself. Especially since the Comic-Con trailer also has Kang asking Scott, “Have I killed you before?” So many dead heroes, so little time…
Based on her costume, this is probably the main version of Kang that we will see throughout the Multiverse Saga, the villain who shapes the next few years of Marvel movies the way Thanos anchored the Infinity Saga.
We also see some shots of a vast city and its high-tech army. That city may be Chronopolis, Kang’s base of operations that exists outside the normal confines of space and time. Kang doesn’t necessarily have a deep connection to the Microverse in the comics, but as far as the MCU is concerned, it seems like the Quantum Realm is his base of operations in his quest to conquer all of reality. He may have his sights set on the rest of the Quantum Realm before moving on to the MCU we know and love.
This is everything we know about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania so far. Are you ready for the MCU to become Star Wars? Is Kang the ultimate villain in this conflict? Let us know your opinion.
To learn more about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, find out why Avengers: Secret Wars is poised to become the MCU’s answer to Game of Thrones.
